Metroid: Other M review: to live and die in steel

Nintendo and Team Ninja give Samus Aran a radical new look, but the feel is …

Samus Aran has always been a cipher. We don't get much personality from her in the Metroid games—she's more suit than woman. We know she's capable, deadly, and strong, but the rest of it has been left to our imagination, and what we think of the character says more about us than it does about her. Do you remember the first time you saw the reflection of her eyes from within the visor in Metroid Prime? She's such a compelling figure because we don't know much about her, other than that her life has been plagued with the quest to destroy these parasites, and she's alone. We can make her face mean anything we'd like.

Metroid: Other M changes that. Now she speaks, and she shares her feelings with us. We're introduced to characters and relationships from her past and present; she reacts to them and they react to her. Her voice is interesting, and while she's still a killer, she also shows some vulnerability—she feels human, instead of like the isolated bounty hunter from games past. Some gamers are going to enjoy the look into what makes her tick, while others are going to be bitterly disappointed that so much of the mystique of the character has been stripped away. It's a bold move for such a well-defined property, and it's likely to split the fan base.

Still, back in the earlier part of the decade there was wailing and gnashing of teeth when we learned that Metroid was going first-person on the GameCube. Look at how that turned out. It doesn't hurt that this game takes place directly after the events of Super Metroid, as you can see from the retrospective video Nintendo released before the game's launch. The video also lets you hear some examples of Samus' new voice.

This game was developed by Team Ninja, and the team has done great things with the Metroid formula. Here's another subtle detail that shows that Nintendo is aiming for a broad audience with this release: most Nintendo-published games are released on Sundays, by themselves. This game is coming out on a Tuesday, along with every other game in that week. It's a small detail, but significant.

Third-person and first-person views

The game has taken a dramatic turn from its classic origins, and is now played in a combination of third-person with a shifting 3D view and first-person when the Wiimote is pointed at the screen. You can switch between the two at will, and moving to first-person helps with finding secrets, exploring the environments, and using both standard and super missiles. If you want to place a few well-aimed shots, first-person view is the place to be, although you will not be able to move while in first-person.

Our hero

It's an interesting mechanic, and if you find yourself getting stuck, the first thing you should do is switch to first-person and take a look around. What's fascinating about both options is how Nintendo and Team Ninja were able to make the Wiimote sing; I didn't find myself missing buttons or an analog stick. The controls feel tight, and are easy to use after the first few tutorials.

The combat system also works well; you have some level of auto-aim when you're in third-person mode, and when you get close to a downed enemy you're treated to a nice little kill animation that's different for each enemy. Some enemies will also grapple with you, leading to even more atmospheric combat. A quick tap in any direction when an enemy or projectile is near you and you'll be able to nimbly dodge out of the way as the action slows down for a beat. It's a neat effect that doesn't get in the way of the fast-paced nature of the combat. Boss battles are appropriately epic, and some require you to do some light puzzle-solving to move ahead. You feel like a badass throughout the game, and the mechanics feel right. This may not look like a Metroid game at first, but you'll feel at home in no time, and the new viewpoints and options fit into the world seamlessly. This is a Metroid title, through and through.

Your different guns aren't selectable either—the effects just layer on top of each other. That means once you get the wave beam you'll be able to shoot through some objects while also freezing others. It takes a little bit away from the game now that you can't find the right gun for the job, and it makes the progression of powers feel more linear.

In Super Metroid almost all the different beam effects stacked, and was rarely ever a reason you'd not want them to.

Your different guns aren't selectable either—the effects just layer on top of each other. That means once you get the wave beam you'll be able to shoot through some objects while also freezing others. It takes a little bit away from the game now that you can't find the right gun for the job, and it makes the progression of powers feel more linear.

In Super Metroid almost all the different beam effects stacked, and was rarely ever a reason you'd not want them to.

The progression of weapons is one of the primary ways that games limit your progress into different areas. The really good games make everything feel organic so you new weapons and areas are unlocked as the plot progresses. It sounds like they decided to go another way with this game and expose the artificial limitations for what they are.

I think I'd have to rate Chibi Robo as one game that really made the progression of levels feel completely organic. Some of the Zelda games, and the first especially, also do a great job.

For me it was usually less blocked, and more lost. Even having played the game through several times, somewhere after having gotten the Gravity suit I always forget where I'm supposed to go next and spend about half an hour wandering all over the planet before I remember.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth). About the most that can be fairly said for any Wii game is that the game has nice art direction to make the most of what limited abilities the Wii has in the graphics department. But I am glad it is a good game, I remember really enjoying the original Metroid games. They were great to play as a group because you could take turns (one or two lives per play) and make fun of the other players skills or laugh as they encountered something new and died because they didn't know what to do.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

I've played plenty of Wii games I would characterize as beautiful. *shrugs*

Another complaint: Samus has every power available to her through her suit for the entire game. The only issue is that she places herself under military command, and the game tells you early on that she'll only use weapons she's authorized to. So basically, there's some bastard somewhere who decides when you can use certain aspects of your suit, and then they get turned on. So if you find a pick-up you can't get to early in the game it's not because you haven't found the power-up for your suit—it's because some guy hasn't told you you're authorized to use that power yet. Who that man is will solve one of the larger mysteries in the lore of Metroid, but still...

The whole "abilities are granted by permission" thing might be a little un-Metroid, but they probably got tired of the "Samus fell over in a cutscene and that made her lose all her suit's powers just in time for her to go someplace where she can get them all back again. How convenient!" schtick.

Definitely gonna grab this come next payday.

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Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

I've played plenty of Wii games I would characterize as beautiful. *shrugs*

Ben, I'm curious how you handled the boss battles. I saw one review yesterday that couldn't get past the frustration of going into the first person mode (where you apparently can't move) to fire missiles at a boss who is too fast to lock on to, and kills you since you are just standing still. Any insights?

That can be frustrating, but these bosses are all pattern-based. There are safe times to go into first-person, and unsafe times. It felt like you needed to be precise, but it wasn't unfair in my opinion.

Your different guns aren't selectable either—the effects just layer on top of each other. That means once you get the wave beam you'll be able to shoot through some objects while also freezing others. It takes a little bit away from the game now that you can't find the right gun for the job, and it makes the progression of powers feel more linear.

In Super Metroid almost all the different beam effects stacked, and was rarely ever a reason you'd not want them to.

I guess I was just spoiled by Prime in this way.

Yeah, I was going to say the same about Super Metroid. And this taking place directly after, makes sense why they would stick with this mechanic.

Prime took place directly after the first Metroid, which changed your weapon out at each chozo statue. So it was a blend of the old: choosing which beam to use, and the new: having all your beams available.

fletch3r wrote:

The progression of weapons is one of the primary ways that games limit your progress into different areas. The really good games make everything feel organic so you new weapons and areas are unlocked as the plot progresses. It sounds like they decided to go another way with this game and expose the artificial limitations for what they are.

Considering these games are supposed to be following an overall arc, it's kind of silly to force you into re-collecting all your power ups that you ended the last game with. Prime dealt with it nicely, having a blast cause your suit to malfunction, bringing you back to square one. Super Metroid, however, inexplicably started you back at square one, although presumably you collected all these power ups in the previous games.

This mechanic for Other M, while annoying that you have all the weapons, but can't use them yet, at least has an explanation why you are starting at square one. Like Prime. Rather than just tossing you in the game with nothing but your short-range beam. Not even the maru-mari, and no reasoning why you'd ever want to shed all that gear. Like Super Metroid.

The whole "abilities are granted by permission" thing might be a little un-Metroid, but they probably got tired of the "Samus fell over in a cutscene and that made her lose all her suit's powers just in time for her to go someplace where she can get them all back again. How convenient!" schtick.

I think this is right. This is the cost of continuity in a "collect and explore" game like this. You can only reset your hero back to zero in so many ways.

Zelda gets around this problem by not having its games be true sequels, but instead a retelling of the same timeless myth. The Castlevania games that fit this mold get around this problem by using different protagonists. But with the Metroid series, we have true sequels, and Samus is the only protagonist. Given that the Samus that walked out of Super Metroid was a planet killing bad ass, we were going to be stuck with some sort of contrivance to get back to square one, whether it was "I'm not authorized to use that weapon" or "My suit malfunctioned! Again! Also, I can't repair my gun correctly, so beam effects no longer stack!"

I understand missing the complexity of the different beam modes, but the Prime series could only get away with it without violating continuity because they took place before Super Metroid.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

I've played plenty of Wii games I would characterize as beautiful. *shrugs*

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

I've played plenty of Wii games I would characterize as beautiful. *shrugs*

Definitely gonna buy this next payday. With the talent they had working on it, I knew it wouldn't be a disaster. But I enjoyed Metroid Fusion a lot which apparently hardcore fans didn't appreciate as much.

"Metroid: Other M changes that. Now she speaks, and she shares her feelings with us. We're introduced to characters and relationships from her past and present; she reacts to them and they react to her."

What? Am I the only person in the world who played Fusion? Not even a nod to it!

(Damn was that game hard. I never could beat the gravity boss w/o cheats.)

The whole "abilities are granted by permission" thing might be a little un-Metroid, but they probably got tired of the "Samus fell over in a cutscene and that made her lose all her suit's powers just in time for her to go someplace where she can get them all back again. How convenient!" schtick.

I think it is also to get around the "Hey here's how to get the blah blah early!" exploits. If it is tied to plot points instead of physical location it is less likely to get exploited.

"Getting more insight into Samus is a good thing, and it's done in a way that doesn't diminish the character or the adventures that happen after the events of this game."

Nitpick: there's only one game that takes place after this one, and that's Metroid Fusion.

@fletc3her: "The progression of weapons is one of the primary ways that games limit your progress into different areas. The really good games make everything feel organic so you new weapons and areas are unlocked as the plot progresses."

Which is how it worked in the first few Metroid games, but you get enough sequels and it starts to get ridiculous. Why's she depowered at the beginning of every game? Metroid Prime tried to answer this question by having her zapped at the beginning and losing her powers, but didn't do a very good job of explaining why she was already missing half of them anyway. Sounds like this is another not-very-satisfying attempt at an in-continuity explanation.

(The late Mega Man X games had you start off the game with the armor from the end of the previous installment -- more or less. Still no explanation on where the boss weapons go, but there are enough fan explanations to take care of that.)

Really the best in-plot explanation for depowering was Fusion's. But you can really only do that once.

(Zero Mission doesn't count because you get your powers back before the endgame, meaning still no explanation for why she doesn't have them at the beginning of Metroid 2.)

@drall.kj: "I'll buy this used... I don't think it will be worth full price."

Amazon gives you $20 off your next game purchase, IIRC.

I preordered it from GameStop when they were running their big 25% off sale a couple months back, but that doesn't help anybody now.

The fans squabbling over the change in direction. Hell, the series survived first-person and motion controls, didn't it?Therein lies the double-edged sword. Did it really survive? Estimates showed the 3 games didn't pack a stellar audience as each was released and it took word-of-mouth to even get the first MP going. MP:E really did damage as the gameplay was touted as difficult and boring due to the light/dark world plus the immense backtracking (especially for the 100% ending).

MP:C was, by far, the best of the 3, imo, and I was certainly hoping M:OM would "run with" continuing Retro's exceptional work on the controls as it was the first, the only, and probably the last game which worked the Wii remote in perfectly.

The reviews to this are all over the place. Some enjoy the "old school" return of the side-scrolling while others balk at the removal of 1st person. I'm sure there is a balance, but it's going to be lost on many because the game's initial shock isn't going to fade away anytime soon.

The cons listed gives me the indication the game's just not going to be for me. A shame, too, as I was really looking forward to a new Metroid game. I'll wait for the price to hit $9.99 which is going to take a while.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

I've played plenty of Wii games I would characterize as beautiful. *shrugs*

The fans squabbling over the change in direction. Hell, the series survived first-person and motion controls, didn't it?Therein lies the double-edged sword. Did it really survive? Estimates showed the 3 games didn't pack a stellar audience as each was released and it took word-of-mouth to even get the first MP going. MP:E really did damage as the gameplay was touted as difficult and boring due to the light/dark world plus the immense backtracking (especially for the 100% ending).

MP:C was, by far, the best of the 3, imo, and I was certainly hoping M:OM would "run with" continuing Retro's exceptional work on the controls as it was the first, the only, and probably the last game which worked the Wii remote in perfectly.

The reviews to this are all over the place. Some enjoy the "old school" return of the side-scrolling while others balk at the removal of 1st person. I'm sure there is a balance, but it's going to be lost on many because the game's initial shock isn't going to fade away anytime soon.

The cons listed gives me the indication the game's just not going to be for me. A shame, too, as I was really looking forward to a new Metroid game. I'll wait for the price to hit $9.99 which is going to take a while.

meh, to me metroid has always been a niche title. i don't know many people that have played any of them. i've only played metroid and super metroid. it's just not a big name game like mario/zelda/halo/etc.

Given that the Samus that walked out of Super Metroid was a planet killing bad ass, we were going to be stuck with some sort of contrivance to get back to square one, whether it was "I'm not authorized to use that weapon" or "My suit malfunctioned! Again! Also, I can't repair my gun correctly, so beam effects no longer stack!"

I prefer the way that Prime 3 handled it. Simply don't mention it. Samus has what she has when she starts out. End of story. No need to explain where her weapons went from the last game; they're just gone.

But here's the question the review failed to answer: is this still an adventure game? Do I get to go where I want when [/i]I[/i] want, or is the game just going to tell me where to go? Even Metroid 2 and Fusion, despite being somewhat linear, allowed me to do what I wanted within certain limits.

I prefer the way that Prime 3 handled it. Simply don't mention it. Samus has what she has when she starts out. End of story.

Yup. At the end of the day, the Metroid games are games -- and the upgrade mechanic is key to playing them. There's no need to contort the story to make some poor sense of it, any more than there needs to be an explanation for how Samus stores over a hundred missiles in her suit.

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Do I get to go where I want when I want, or is the game just going to tell me where to go?

Metroid games have always been extremely linear. Some just make less of an attempt to hide it than others.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth). About the most that can be fairly said for any Wii game is that the game has nice art direction to make the most of what limited abilities the Wii has in the graphics department. But I am glad it is a good game, I remember really enjoying the original Metroid games. They were great to play as a group because you could take turns (one or two lives per play) and make fun of the other players skills or laugh as they encountered something new and died because they didn't know what to do.

I remember playing beautiful games back when we moved from 4bit colour to 8bit. The old Sierra * Quest games had some awesome artwork that was beautiful. The "better" the graphics get in a system, the more the uncanny valley shows.

Ben, when you say "beautiful graphics" I had to double check but yes this is for the Wii so such a statement is either pure hyperbole or should at least be followed with note "for the Wii" - as nothing the Wii does can fairly be considered "beautiful" compared to the current gen systems (which are also getting a little old in the tooth).

Does that mean that all comments regarding a ps3 or xbox360 game's gameplay should be followed with a similar note, since motion sensing / touch input / mouse + keyboard can be superior input methods? And should we say that games X and Y are immersive "considering they're 2D games" since the 3DS is going 3D?

I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. I still find games like SNES's Chrono Trigger to be beautiful -- the "art direction" is far more important for me than the pixel count -- so there's just so much "wii games look bad because they're SD" that i can take without having to vent.

Do I get to go where I want when I want, or is the game just going to tell me where to go?

Metroid games have always been extremely linear. Some just make less of an attempt to hide it than others.

Super Metroid is loved not for it its linear gameplay, but for the ability to sequence break it. Half the fun of these games is sequence breaking, trying to figure out what can and cannot be done. It is why the GBA titles were so much fun and Shadow Complex is so awesome.